Black Maria (/məˈraɪə/ mə-RY-ə; 1923–1932) was an American Thoroughbred racing filly who earned national Champion honors three times.
Bred in Kentucky by William R. Coe, she was sired by Black Toney, the great foundation stallion of Idle Hour Stock Farm.
Black Maria was voted the 1927 and 1928 American Champion Older Female Horse, highlighted by her defeat of males in the preeminent race on the U.S. East Coast for milers, the Metropolitan Handicap in a performance that made The New York Times call her "a great race mare.
In 1870, an article about her in Harper's New Monthly Magazine said: "The track was heavy, and yet, to achieve a victory, twenty miles had to be run.
Her speed was implied in the nickname given to horse-drawn black (or dark blue) police prisoner vans of the period, swiftly whisking felons away from the scene of a crime.